User blog:BrickfilmNut/A Little Announcement
The following is pretty much an exact copy of what I posted at the LMBW a few weeks ago, so a little bit of the context may have been lost. I was hoping I wouldn't need to post this on both wikis, but in light of recent events, here it is. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Recently, in light of some conflict that has resurfaced, I did some research on the relationship between the LMBW and Brickipedia, and I came across an astounding discovery. I have been a little reluctant to share this information. It is possible that it is too unbelievable for you all to comprehend, but I’m going to try anyway. The truth needs to get out, whether or not anyone believes it. BRICKIPEDIA AND THE LMBW DON’T ACTUALLY HATE EACH OTHER!!!! Hello, are you okay? Sorry, you seemed unresponsive there for a sec. The insanity of the above statement may have incited a temporary blackout, but, whether you like it or not, it’s the truth. See, it turns out, the issues have just been caused by a small, yet very audible and stubborn, group of users on each wiki. Insane, right? After all, we have so many reasons to hate each other. There are those two (two, as in a couple, one more than one) words that are allowed in one chat but not another. There are a few bans that everyone totally has to get in on. Plus, what sort of human beings would we be if we didn’t take a past issue (the tension between communities) and create a vicious cycle by using it to make itself worse? Besides, who couldn’t foresee such problems when the sites were first started up? I mean, one’s a site that talks about LEGO, and the other is a site that talks about talking about LEGO. They’re like day and night! Frankly, I’m surprised we’ve lasted this long without each site ripping the other apart like rabid pit bulls in a dogfight. By now, one site should have been utterly destroyed, a dystopian wasteland inhabited by spammers and vandals, with the other forever commemorating their victory in a little shrine. Some say that we could just ignore each other, and that if a LMBWer doesn’t like Brickipedia or vice versa, then they should just ignore the wiki and keep to themselves, but come on! That’s impossible! We must air all our grievances at all times in the noisiest, most annoying way possible! Everyone knows that! Anyway, despite all these perfectly valid reasons for constantly being at each other’s throats, it turns out that we actually aren’t. When I first visited the LMBW several months ago, I was completely unaware of the deadly territory I was walking on. Had I been more informed on the rumors regarding the interwiki conflict, I would have surely known better than to walk into such a deathtrap. And yet, I escaped totally unscathed, with the exception of the mental images instilled in my mind by some of the rage comic blogs. “What had happened?” I wondered to myself after realizing what danger I had supposedly been in. Was each user waiting for each other to rip me to shreds? Were they all just really terrible procrastinators (or really good- these kinds of negative adjectives are always confusing)? No. It turns out that nearly all of them didn’t foster any hatred for me. We got along. I’m good friends with a bunch of the users here, and there are other similar friendships that I see forming between the two wikis. Now, you probably have one last question. How is this possible? Why, for Pete’s sake – why don’t we hate each other? Is that too much to ask for?! Well, I’ve come up with several reasons. Perhaps it is because, as ridiculous as this may sound, each wiki is made up of individuals. No, no, don’t walk away – please, just, hear me out. Perhaps all Brickipedians, and all LMBWers, aren’t identical clones that behave the same way all of the time. Maybe, just maybe, we are all individuals and should be judged accordingly. STOP LAUGHING! I know it sounds crazy, but think about it. Are all Brickipedians collectively banned from the LMBW? Do all LMBWers spend each and every day making rage blogs? No. Some users cause trouble, and some users behave, and some users are inconsistent. Yet, it is their wikis that we have been judging, not them. Thankfully, though, because we are individual users, some can choose to hate, and some choose to be tolerant. And fortunately, my research has shown that, though it may not look that way, most choose the latter. There’s also the fact that maybe we’re all decent human beings at heart, but if you couldn’t take the “individuality” argument seriously, then there’s no way you aren’t collapsing on the floor with laughter at this last sentence. That leaves one last thing to ponder. What will happen, now that the truth is known? Some will probably choose to live their lives in ignorance, preferring their restraints in Plato’s cave to the real world (Plato’s cave’s occupancy has long-ago exceeded the maximum occupant load; they’ll never survive if there’s a fire). Some, though, will hopefully take this information, alter their ideologies, and start treating each other like the users they bloody are. What will happen remains to be seen. Hopefully, the two wikis will no longer have to experience tension that should be restricted to a small number of users. Hopefully, we can all work together like other LEGO fansites elsewhere. Or we’ll just keep slurring “sheltered homeschooler” and “troll” insults. Whichever you prefer. Category:Blog posts